Gowling WLG is pleased to announce that partners Melissa Binns and Scott Smith have been named among Lexpert's "Rising Stars: Leading Lawyers Under 40" for 2018. They received their "Rising Star" honours last night at an awards ceremony held at the Fairmont Royal York in Toronto.
Presented annually by Lexpert, the "Rising Stars" awards celebrate lawyers under 40 from across Canada who are at the top of the legal profession - both within their offices and their local communities. Winners are selected by an advisory board of distinguished members of the legal community. A complete list of all the honourees can be found in the November/December issue of Lexpert.
Melissa Binns
Based in Hamilton, Melissa Binns focuses her IP practice on a broad range of areas, including patent and trademark litigation and prosecution, pharmaceutical regulatory law, copyright litigation, and commercial litigation. Her practice spans a wide range of industries such as biotechnology, pharmaceutics, apparel, software, food/beverage, and manufacturing. As a registered trademark agent, she regularly advises both Canadian and international clients on the protection and enforcement of trademark rights in Canada. Over the course of her career, she has acted as counsel on a number of complex Federal Court, Ontario Court and Trademark Opposition Board cases.
Outside of her practice, Binns is involved in a number of local and national organizations related to the life sciences and technology fields, supporting and liaising with a broad range of emerging businesses. She is also a leader in Gowling WLG's biologics and biosimilars practice area.
Scott A. Smith
Working out of Gowling WLG's Vancouver and Toronto offices, Scott Smith has a leading national practice at the confluence of environmental, energy, natural resource, and Indigenous law. He has a strong track record of successfully advising clients in high profile, complex regulatory hearings and related litigation for major natural resource and energy projects across Canada.
Recognized by Benchmark Litigation as a top lawyer under 40 in Canada, Smith also has extensive experience advising clients on the Crown's duty to consult and accommodate Indigenous peoples, as well as negotiating and drafting precedent-setting agreements between Indigenous people, proponents, and other governments.
Smith is recognized as a thought-leader and a highly skilled negotiator in government-to-government negotiations. He is also deeply committed to increasing access to justice for Indigenous peoples - most recently providing pro bono legal information to members of a First Nation in connection with their treaty ratification process.